BILDAD DRINKS NEW LIFE.
The stricken man had no time to utter another cry. The lion--for such it
proved to be--paused a moment, with uplifted head, snarling angrily. The
torch had been flung back a yard or more toward the water, and was
spluttering on the damp sand.
Guy's companions were helpless with fear and dread. Forbes alone had
self-possession enough to remember that he had a revolver. It was not
loaded, and he trembled so much that he could scarcely draw the shells
from his pocket.
"Hurry! Hurry!" whispered the colonel. "The brute may tear him apart any
moment."
Meanwhile Guy lay white and motionless in the grasp of the lion. Not a
muscle quivered, and his eyes were closed.
Suddenly, as Forbes was nervously ramming the shells into the revolver,
the beast turned on his prey with a vicious growl and seized Guy's arm
loosely in his mighty jaws. In another instant Chutney would have been
dragged off, but help was to come from an unlooked-for source.
With a single bound Bildad sprang out upon the sand, brandishing a huge
spear that Canaris had brought with him from the lake.
Another leap carried him within a yard or two of the lion, and the
amazed spectators had a brief vision of the enraged beast quivering for
a spring at the audacious African.
Then the spear flashed in the torchlight, and as Bildad sprang to one
side, the lion, with a mighty roar, toppled over on the sand--dead. The
spear had pierced his heart.
For an instant no one realized what had happened. The lion in his fall
had cleared his victim entirely, and before any one thought of moving
forward Guy pulled himself to his feet and staggered feebly toward the
raft. Melton ran forward just in time to catch him in his arms.
"Thank God," he exclaimed fervently. "You are not hurt, Chutney?"
"No, I think not," was Guy's response; "only stunned and bruised a
little. It was a close call."
"Close! I should say it was. It's the first time I ever saw a lion
killed in that way. Bildad saved your life, for Melton could never have
killed the brute with that toy he has there."
A strange sound suddenly diverted their attention to Bildad.
The savage was ripping open the dead lion's throat with a spear, and
throwing himself on his knees, he lapped up greedily the red blood as it
flowed from the wound.
It was a horrible and fascinating sight. He drank long and deeply, and
when at length he rose from his savage feast the ferocity of the lion
seemed actually to have flowed into his own veins, so horrible and
demon-like was the expression on his dusky face.
Shaking the blood-stained spear, he shouted two or three times in a
frenzied manner, and then tottering to the raft, flung himself among the
rugs.
"We are saved," cried Forbes with sudden inspiration. "There lies meat
in plenty."
Melton's words caused a speedy revulsion of feeling. The colonel shouted
for very joy, and Canaris sprang toward the dead lion with drawn knife.
"Cut off as much of the meat as you can," said Guy. "Here, give me my
saber. Let me help."
He turned to reach it, but a sudden weakness came over him, and he was
compelled to lie down on the rugs. The colonel, in deep alarm, made a
hasty examination to see if he had sustained any injury, but with the
exception of a severe bruising and a slight laceration of the left arm,
caused by the lion's teeth, he appeared to be all right.
Melton and Canaris were just on the point of cutting into the dead lion
with their sabers, the only weapons that remained to them, when a fierce
roar echoed through the cavern, repeated two or three times in rapid
succession, and in the gloom they could see a pair of shining eyes.
"Run for the raft," cried the Greek; and, as they reached the shore, a
superb lioness bounded forward and stood by the body of her mate.
"See!" cried the colonel, pointing a trembling finger. "Two more lions
coming out of the cavern. Push the raft into the water at once or we
shall be devoured."
The danger was indeed imminent, and yet, in their starving condition, it
was hard to leave all that meat behind. Forbes, impelled by some mad
impulse, pointed his revolver at the angry lioness, but Guy grasped his
arm before he could pull the trigger. Two more lions were now in plain
view, stalking slowly out of the shadows.
"The pistol is useless," said Guy. "We dare not resist. We must get away
as silently as possible."
The raft had been tossed but lightly upon the beach, and with but little
effort it was pushed free of the shore and trembled on the water.
A loud roar close at hand caused them to fall on board in frantic haste,
and as the swift current whirled them away the three lions trotted down
to the water's edge and howled in concert.
"We may be thankful we got away with whole skins," said Chutney. "It was
a great misfortune to have to abandon all that meat, but a delay or an
attempt at resistance would have cost us our lives."
"It means starvation," said Melton bitterly. "Those lions came down from
the open air to drink. That hole in the rocks led out of the cavern, I
have no doubt, and we could have followed it up and perhaps found food,
or we might even have abandoned the cavern entirely and finished our
journey on top of ground. We must be close to the coast now."
This statement of what "might have been" sent their spirits down to the
lowest ebb. They realized that Melton was undoubtedly right. Safety had
actually been within their grasp, but the lions had driven them off, and
now they were doomed to almost certain death by starvation. Even had
they chosen to go back and risk the chances it was too late, for the
current had taken them far from the spot, and the sandy shores had given
way to perpendicular walls of rock.
The torch continued to burn brightly, a piece of extravagance that
called forth no rebuke.
The journey continued amid unbroken silence. Sir Arthur and Bildad were
both asleep, though it was no peaceful slumber, to judge from their
restless tossings.
Sir Arthur's illness had now lasted a week. It was more of a nervous
attack than anything else, but without food it was hopeless to look for
recovery. He was extremely weak, and lay most of the time in a stupor.
The painful bruises Guy had sustained kept him awake much longer than
the rest, but at last he too fell asleep.
Thus several hours passed away, and they awoke in utter darkness. The
torch had burnt out during the night, but Guy recklessly lit another.
The river was flowing rapidly among scattered rocks, and as the raft
approached a jagged ledge that cropped up from the water, a dark object
was seen clinging to it.
"Why, it is our lost canoe," said Forbes as they drew near. "Help me
catch it, Chutney. We will pass close to it."
The raft struck the edge of the rocks, and as it swung round with the
current they grasped the end of the canoe and pulled it on board.
"It will do for firewood," said Guy. "We won't have to travel in the
dark any more."
"Yes, yes; build a fire," said Sir Arthur feebly, sitting up among the
rugs. "I'm cold, Chutney; icy cold. Have we come to the end of the
cavern yet?"
"He seems a little better," whispered the colonel, coming close up to
Guy. "Do you know, Chutney, I've been thinking for the last hour that we
must surely be near the end of the river. Since first we entered this
cavern we have traveled eight hundred miles. Calculate the rate of speed
at which the current flows, and you must see that I am right. Moreover,
we cannot be very far beneath the surface of the earth. Those lions do
not dwell in the cavern. They only came down for water."
"I believe you are right," said Guy. "Two more days will tell. If we
don't reach the open air in that time--well, it won't matter after that
whether we reach it or not. I can hardly stand on my feet, and as for
the torments of hunger, I need not speak of that. You know them
yourself."
"Yes, I do indeed know what it is," said the colonel bitterly, "but we
must endure it a while longer. For myself I do not care so much, but Sir
Arthur is in a bad way, and as for Bildad, we may have to bind him hand
and foot. He sleeps now, but no one can tell what he may do when he
awakes."
"We will watch him closely," said Guy. "Canaris is splitting up the
canoe for firewood, and it will no longer be necessary to travel in
darkness."
"See!" cried the Greek, pausing with uplifted axe. "The shores have
disappeared. Has the river become wide or is this another lake?"
"There is still a strong current," said Guy. "The channel has suddenly
become broad. That is all."
A cheerful fire was soon blazing, and the ruddy reflection stained the
water far and near, as the raft drifted on with the current. Sir Arthur
fell asleep again, and Bildad lay among the rugs as one dead, glutted
with his savage feast, and his lips and hands still red with clotted
blood.